Costs campaign aired in Parliament

Costs campaign aired in Parliament

Labour MP Kelvin Hopkins raised a question in Parliament concerning out letter to the Ministry of Justice concerning the way in which the Jackson reforms may have an impact on legal costs in Abuse cases, which are now, of course, very topical.

See this extract from Hansard from 13th November 2012

"Kelvin Hopkins (Luton North) (Lab):The Association of Child Abuse Lawyers has expressed great concern about drastic changes to the rules on legal costs that are due in April next year. They believe that those changes could have serious implications for the victims of childhood abuse. Is the Secretary of State aware of those concerns and what does he propose to do about them, especially in view of recent events?

Chris Grayling: It is nice to get a serious question from the Opposition. These are sensitive issues and we have had to take difficult decisions about the legal aid system. We have the most expensive legal aid system in Europe and, given the financial challenges we inherited, no change was not an option. We will, of course, continue to review the impact of the changes we have made to ensure that there are no unintended consequences. I will not be afraid to reconsider some of those issues if it proves that what we have done has created a major problem."